George Nepia
George Nepia in 1935
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| Full name | George Nepia | ||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 25 April 1905 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Wairoa, New Zealand | ||||||||||||
| Date of death | 27 June 1986 (aged 81) | ||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 82 kg (12 st 13 lb) | ||||||||||||
| Rugby league career | |||||||||||||
| Position | Fullback | ||||||||||||
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| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||
| Playing career | |||||||||||||
| Position | Fullback | ||||||||||||
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| Professional clubs | |||
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| Years | Club / team | Apps | (points) |
| National teams | |||
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| Years | Club / team | Apps | (points) |
| Professional / senior clubs | |||
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| Years | Club / team | Apps | (points) |
| 1922–25 1927–47 |
Hawkes Bay East Coast |
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| National team(s) | |||
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| Years | Club / team | Apps | (points) |
| 1924–30 | New Zealand | 9 | (5) |
George Nepia (25 April 1905 – 27 June 1986) was a New Zealand Māori rugby union and rugby league player. He is remembered as an exceptional full-back and one of the most famous Māori rugby players. He was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. In 2004 he was selected as number 65 by the panel of the New Zealand's Top 100 History Makers television show. Nepia was featured in a set of postage stamps from the New Zealand post office in 1990. Historian Philippa Mein Smith described him as "New Zealand rugby's first superstar".
Nepia was born in Wairoa in Hawkes Bay. While his birth certificate stated that Nepia was born 1905 he later claimed he had been born in 1908. After finishing primary school in Nuhaka, Nepia was to attend Te Aute College but went to the nearby Maori Agricultural College instead. In 1926 Nepia married Huinga Kohere. They had four children, three sons and a daughter. Nepia and his family settled on a dairy farm on the East Coast.
Nepia was selected for the Hawkes Bay provincial rugby team in 1922. At that time Hawkes Bay had one of the strongest teams in New Zealand and held the Ranfurly Shield. Nepia initially played on the wing but was later shifted to second-five eighth.
In 1924 Nepia was selected as a full-back for the All Blacks tour to the United Kingdom. Nepia was one of the stars of the tour. He played in all 32 games – being the only player to do so, and scored 77 points. As the team did not lose any matches, they came to be known as The Invincibles. Nepia was a fine full-back, with a safe pair of hands, a strong kicking game and a fierce tackle. Before games on the tour, he led the team's performance of a haka which had been composed for the tour.
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